Nurses’ strike cripples health services in hospitals

As health services across the country face a massive disruption due to the ongoing nurses’ strike, services in Bungoma County have also been heavily paralyzed. In Bungoma County Referral Hospital, which is largely depended on by Bungoma County residents and other residents from neighbouring Counties, services are no longer being given and patients are queuing for long hours without receiving medical assistance.

On Wednesday, patients at the hospital complained of spending long hours in the queue, “I came here at 8 am and up to now it’s 12 o’clock I haven’t received any assistance from the nurses, we have queued here for long and we are not seeing any indications we’ll be attended to. We rely mostly on this Bungoma Referral hospital because most of us can’t raise money to look for medication in private hospitals that is why we are just camping here. If any nurse will have that kind heart to treat us we shall appreciate,” said one patient.

Patients have urged the National Government, the County Government of Bungoma and the Kenya National Union of Nurses to hold talks and agree so that nurses may return to their duties and save lives.

“We are making a plea to the National and County governments, other stakeholders and officials of nurses union to have talks and find a lasting solution to these strikes to avoid inconveniences in the health sector,” he added.

Nurses across the country are protesting what they call a violation of the agreement of signing the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which was to be done in December last year to cater for a pay rise, employing more nurses and providing more health care equipment.